1989 Deere 455GTC questions and opinions

[RockyHillRanch]

Going to look at a 455GTC and have some questions. I have never operated a dozer before, however, i have operated many other types of equipment over the years. This will be used on a ranch to clear cedar, build roads, expand/build ponds, like quarry blocks, etc.

Is there a good reason that a ranch dozer needs to be TC or direct drive? does it matter for the low hour, low load use it will be doing?
The one thing i can pick out from the pictures is that one of the track tensioners seems to be leaking grease. Can see the grease pile and the track is looser than the other. How difficult is this to get to?
How hard are these to work on? I have always been a shade tree mechanic but will this require a completley new set of knowledge?
The tracks seem quite loud in the videos, is there something to check that would be obvious?
Is there 455gtc specfiic issues to look for?

Any and all opinions are welcomed. I will be going by to look at it because i will be in the area. If i don't see anything obviously wrong i will get a mechanic to look it over. Assuming it is in not terrible condition, what would you expect the price to be? 1989 with 4100 hours.

Thanks

 

[Welder Dave]

Direct drive might be better if you were doing long pushes or pulls but nothing wrong with TC drive. Mostly operator preference. TC is better for close quarters work around obstacles. Could be a loose fitting on the track adjuster. Usually not a big deal to replace seals but the track has to be split. Not sure if it would have split master links.

What is the undercarriage like? 4100 hours would typically be completely worn out or already replaced and in good/great shape. Good undercarriage, everything works as it should and signs of reasonable maintenance I'd say in the $22-25K range give or take. Worn out undercarriage under $20K maybe $17-$18K.

 

[RockyHillRanch]

Hello Dave, Thanks for the response.
I went to take a look at it on wednesday. A couple notes

The bad: The exhaust stack is straight up and open, no coverage to rain that goes straight down to the turbo, left turns seemed delayed, that was the first time operating a dozer and it didn't get warm, but seemed different than the right turn. the bucket has a crack in the bottom of it, and the wear/skid pads on the bottom of the bucket are pealing back a bit (nothing that i think a welder cant fix), the valve assembly for the bucket leaks, not terrible but drips.

the good: bucket pins looked in decent enough condition, undercarriage, while worn, did look good enough, this machine won't see another 1000 hours anytime soon, so it has years of life in it i would say, it started right up, no hesitation and sounded good, owner claims new injector pump and it does look new.

questions:
How much blow by is too much? I did the typical take the oil fill port top off and there was "air flow" out, but not enough you could stop with your hand. My opinion is it has 4k hours, its gonna be a little worn out

Does the track have to be split or can the idler be pushed in and then the track removed? I have seen it both ways in my research

if in 1st gear, and throttle at 75% , when i press both pedals should the machine come to a stop or does the decel pedal also have to be pressed?



The owner plans to move it back to his place so i can get some piles of dirt to push and test it out. Besides for working it and getting it to temperature, are there specific things i should check?

 

[Welder Dave]

From what you're describing I wouldn't trust the hour meter and/or it hasn't been looked after very well. There may be a drain hole in the exhaust so rain won't get into the engine. Pics. would help a lot. Not easy to put tracks back on without splitting them. Can be done but need at least 2 people. I think it should stop with both pedals pushed half way but I'm not real familiar with JD machines. There shouldn't be a delay when steering though. Both sides should work the same.

 

[RockyHillRanch]

 

[RockyHillRanch]

From what you're describing I wouldn't trust the hour meter and/or it hasn't been looked after very well. There may be a drain hole in the exhaust so rain won't get into the engine. Pics. would help a lot. Not easy to put tracks back on without splitting them. Can be done but need at least 2 people. I think it should stop with both pedals pushed half way but I'm not real familiar with JD machines. There shouldn't be a delay when steering though. Both sides should work the same.

Thanks for the input. It is 5k lower than the price you mentioned. On one hand I'm thinking there's gotta be a reason no one is buying it. On the other I don't want to miss a good deal.

 

[Welder Dave]

$5K under what price, I listed a couple ranges? $12K would probably be a good deal but it needs a lot of work. I don't trust the hour meter after seeing pics. and the fact it needed work on the injection pump. It needs undercarriage why the low price and no one has bought it. The right track is too tight and the left track at about correct tension, both idler blocks are at the very end (front) of the track frames. No adjustment left at all. Not clear enough pics. to see the sprockets but the rock guards are almost rubbing on the track pads. Engine side shields are missing, maybe just removed. Figure $10 to $12K maybe more for new undercarriage. If prices have gone up like everything else could be $15K or more and that doesn't include installation. The exhaust pipe on the hood may be bigger dia. than the exhaust off the engine so rain isn't a big issue. My Cat is like that but I put a rain cap on anyway. Personally I would keep looking and try to find something with 40% or better undercarriage remaining and drove and steered properly on both sides. More money up front but less potential for problems.

 

[RockyHillRanch]

Current price is 13k. Thats what im leaning towards. Im not in a big rush to buy so i will likely wait on the next one. View attachment 20231115_173521.jpgView attachment 20231115_173503.jpg

 

[Welder Dave]

It depends on if the steering needs work and if you want to do a bunch of work on it. It's not a bad price but would be good to have someone experienced with crawlers check it out.

 

[RockyHillRanch]

This is a dumb question probably. But if this is just being used for ranch work, maybe 200 hours per year if not less, at what point do you say the undercarriage is too bad and needs to be replaced? When the track falls off? When something breaks? What is the limitation? I don't like having my equipment is bad condition but sometimes good enough is alright. Any opinion?

 

[Welder Dave]

Worn undercarriage could jump on bad sprockets but probably the worst thing is the track gets snaky and will come off, usually at the worst time in mud or where it's really hard to work on. The roller flanges will also hit the pin bosses on the rails. The rollers can also self destruct when they're severely worn. It's impossible to tell with the rock guards on. Also need to look at the bushings that engage on the sprocket teeth. They can wear right through to the pin. The price on the 455G isn't bad if just the undercarriage is bad. If it needs steering clutch and brake work that's not cheap. Would be money ahead to hire a JD tech. or experienced heavy equipment mechanic/inspector to inspect it for you. Proper inspection may show a glaring issue and if not is good piece of mind. Crawlers are money pits no matter how good they seem at the time.

 

[RockyHillRanch]

Worn undercarriage could jump on bad sprockets but probably the worst thing is the track gets snaky and will come off, usually at the worst time in mud or where it's really hard to work on. The roller flanges will also hit the pin bosses on the rails. The rollers can also self destruct when they're severely worn. It's impossible to tell with the rock guards on. Also need to look at the bushings that engage on the sprocket teeth. They can wear right through to the pin. The price on the 455G isn't bad if just the undercarriage is bad. If it needs steering clutch and brake work that's not cheap. Would be money ahead to hire a JD tech. or experienced heavy equipment mechanic/inspector to inspect it for you. Proper inspection may show a glaring issue and if not is good piece of mind. Crawlers are money pits no matter how good they seem at the time.

My boat loves being a money pit too.

I have contacted a couple heavy machinery mechanics, but without knowing one personally I'm unsure of the quality of inspection i'll get. Better than nothing, definitely is the plan to inspect before purchase.

I'm hoping I can get some clearing done, as well as a few roads built out of the machine i end up with. if i end up moving back on to the ranch i'd rather be wearing out a piece of machinery than wearing out my joints. My joints are likely much more expensive.

 

[Welder Dave]

How long has the 455G been for sale? If it's been a couple month's or more there's a good chance other potential buyers have checked it out and decided against it. If it was a really fantastic deal it would probably have been sold pretty fast. It's hard to know what all might be wrong. Would be good to run it for 1/2 an hour or more and see how it works when at operating temperature with everything hot. Some machine issues can work decent when cold and not when warmed up.

 

[RockyHillRanch]

ya, thats the part i'm worried about, its been for sale for a while. with several price reductions.

 

[Welder Dave]

All the more reason to thoroughly check it out in my opinion. There's likely something the seller isn't telling you. The price is getting to where it might be worth taking a chance on but still a bunch of work to do on it. Can you get some pics. of the bushings on the track chains? They could be pretty telling as could the bottom rollers but hard to get a look at them with the rock guards. If you have a local JD dealer you could ask them about 455G TC machines in general and they might even know the one you're looking at and what work it's had and what it might need.

 

[RockyHillRanch]

I could've sworn i took pictures of the bushings, but i don't see them. For reference, I don't know exactly what i was looking for, but they definitely didn't look like this

1999 DEERE 455G For Sale in Van Alstyne, Texas

1999 DEERE 455G For Sale in Van Alstyne, Texas at MachineryTrader.com. 1999 Deere 455G Track Loader. 4155 Hours. 70 Horse Power. Deere 4045T Turbo Engine. 18745 Lbs Operating Weight. 1.3 yd3 Bucket Capacity, 11800 Lbs Tipping Load, 15735 Lbs Breakout Force.

www.machinerytrader.com

picture 7

I contacted someone who has experience working on heavy machinery to take a look before i would buy, just someone i found on marketplace, do you think the deere service department would bother sending a guy out if paid? I highly doubt it.

I took a picture of the bottom roller i could see



View attachment 20231115_173548.jpg

 

[Welder Dave]

I saw your post below after I was typing this so I edited it. In your pic. of the roller you can see the bushing is completely gone and the pin underneath. The others won't be far behind if they aren't already as bad. You wouldn't want to run it like that.

There's a couple pics. of the bushings on the Machinery Trader machine. They're also shot. Looking closer, one of the other pics. also shows the bushing missing and the pin inside. Big repair bill right off the bat for Both machines!

 

[RockyHillRanch]

For clarity, the link to machinery trader is not the machine i'm looking at.

 

[sstocker31]

For information....I used to tun a JD555 and pressing on both pedals bring the machine to a stop. Releasing either pedal will allow that side track to operate once again.
I also ran the tracks on this machine to destruction. This wasn’t my decision, but one the bosses made.
The sprocket teeth become very sharp at the tip when severely worn, and eventually start to break off at the tip....it’s a slippery slope when this happens as it will start to skip on the tracks, which is pretty alarming when it first happens....and then it just begins to happen more frequently....it’s been so long but I don’t think it lasted much more than 20 hours once the skipping started.
The machine was barely able to load itself on the trailer after that, and I never saw it again....parted out I assume.

If you can get close to this machine again take some closer pics of the sprocket teeth, the chain links, and the bushings underneath the track pads.
I think it is a 4100 hr machine....

 

[RockyHillRanch]

Hello, thanks for the input. Does pressing on both pedals while the engine is full throttle stop the tracks completely? I believe it should and i think it was more a problem with me, being the first time i operated a dozer.

I do not like to have extremely worn out equipment and don't expect to run it to failure. But I also realize that this is an old machine that will do little hours per year for the time i own it. So my expectations are low. but i don't want to buy junk either. Learning as i go though.

Here are the pictures that i have of the sprocket teeth and chain links



View attachment 20231115_173521.jpgView attachment 20231115_173503.jpgView attachment 20231115_173524.jpg